This lines up with the article I posted last week, though they put mid-2025 (but what’s six months between friends?).
What I’m slightly confused about - and I know we’ve discussed this a bit before - is that if Max is launching in Australia, surely it would make sense to also expand that to NZ? Obviously WBD will know the numbers MUCH better than I do(!) - but on the face of it, it would seem a no-brainer if they could piggyback off the infrastructure for Australia? Someone like @OnAir or @medianz will have a better idea than me, though.
IF Warners decide to launch Max in NZ (and as discussed it’s not necessarily likely), I wonder if this would give Three and its siblings a reprieve? Fill them with repeats, inventory and the odd HBO show and you’ve got channels that, as you say, cost very little to run and basically act as free advertising for Max. Then when the time’s right, close the linear channels and just have Max.
If they were to launch Max in New Zealand they’d have to choose between replacing ThreeNow or ending what has been quite a lucrative deal with Sky and Neon, both options which seem way off in the cards right now.
You’re spot-on @LiamP. I heard/read something recently even Disney are revising some of their exclusive content in overseas markets and offering them to local players… it’s no different to WBD keeping a reliable revenue stream by keeping in cahoots with Sky.
Like I said about Newshub a month or so ago; without a shop window to see what’s on offer, why bother going into the store?
Who’s to say ThreeNow will stay, anyway? Not much point having a catchup service named after a channel you’ve just closed down…
Going back to this:
Assuming the rumours about Three closing down are true, I wonder if WBD have decided the ad revenue just isn’t worth it anymore?
As per that Post article, we know the transmission fees for DTT alone are $5.2 million. We know ad spend is way down. We know they’re getting rid of what is by far their schedule’s biggest anchor.
Without Newshub, without all other local productions, what reason is there for viewers to tune in? Repeats? Imports? No, the more I think about it, the more I am convinced we are seeing WBD wind down Three.
This is it - the final curtain. In - let’s say… 18 months’ time, TV3 will be something we talk about purely in the past tense.
WBD will leave Flower Street as soon as they are able. If +HR=E survives past 2025 - and as I explained above, I don’t think it will - playout will move Stateside (or wherever their other channels are played from).
TVNZ is “looking very hard” at Shortland Street, and its future is “unclear”, said Kelly Martin, CEO of South Pacific Pictures.
“We have been in conversations for a while,” Martin, whose company produces the long-running TVNZ 2 soap, told Stuff.
“It’s definitely something that’s up for discussion and I don’t know what the outcome of those discussions would be.”
The show was fully produced “not as far in advance as I would like,” Martin said.
She spoke to Stuff in the wake of a TVNZ restructure that will see Fair Go, Sunday, and the Midday and Tonight news bulletins cancelled effective mid-May, and the shuttering of rival operation Newshub in its entirety.
TVNZ has been approached for comment.
Shortland Street, which will tick over 32 years on air in May, is New Zealand’s longest-running drama series and regularly the top-rated show on TVNZ 2.
It must be, there was that report that SPP commissioned themselves to outline the impact the show has had but that just seemed like a collection of evidence to make a case for financial funding. I wouldn’t think the revenue from TVNZ+ would cover the cost of production and the current FTA ratings probably wouldn’t.
It would be a hard one to axe when this is supposedly all about a transition to a digital future. FTA is sure well down on what it used to be, but Unless its changed recently, SS used to be one of the most watched shows on TVNZ+.
Are they not ever seeing a recovery of advertising $$? What is it they say, 90 cents in every dollar goes offshore…? not sure axing local show after show is going to entice advertisers to spend locally when things do pick up again…
Tbh this sounds to me like something of a scare story. I suspect they will just cut the number of episodes per week, and then people can say “phew. At least it wasn’t cancelled completely”.
They do, but I’m not sure if they get as many sales as they once did. Though Amazon now holds the UK rights, which is interesting. IF the worst happens, wonder if they might do a Neighbours…
The big issue really is that no one in the target audience watches TVNZ2 anymore, so they’re battling to get eyeballs there.
They’ve moved to rerunning it after Tonight on TVNZ1 in recent times to try amortise costs. From what I heard it’s still one of the biggest hitters on TVNZ+ but that may not entirely pay the bills.
Might be good if instead of axing 80% of their news output they instead axed Seven Sharp and put Shorty on 1 in its place. (I’m sure there are reasons why they don’t…)
If Shortland Street goes that feels like pretty much closing down New Zealand television with the other announcements this week.
The trouble is though in todays climate content needs to sell internationally to get funded - and soaps just don’t. They used to be good filler for linear channels but don’t really cut through on streaming services in the same way.
NZ has made some amazing dramas - The Brokenwood Mysteries is particularly good, and has been sold all over the world (you might have watched it on the Drama channel in the UK). Outrageous Fortune and The Almighty Johnsons were excellent, too. Both were on the same channel - wonder what happened to it(!!!)
It might be good if NZ brings in some sort of Canada-style law mandating that TV stations/streaming services broadcast x amount of Kiwi shows. In Canada the FTA networks have to air Canadian content for at least half of primetime. NZ being as small as it is, the proportion would have to be lower - but I think it’s worth thinking about…
If down the track TVNZ axed Shortland Street, and post Newshub shutdown Three’s evening ratings colllapsed, I wonder if WBD would take it on… Newshub’s 6pm bulletin and SS are very close in ratings both 5+ & 25-54. and it would surely give Three Now a much needed boost…